Invited Paper

The Trans-Tasman Relationship: A New Zealand Perspective

The Hon. Phil Goff, New
Zealand Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade

ABSTRACT

New Zealand’s relationship with
Australia stems from a common heritage and values that lead us to see
the world in a similar way. Our two nations are uniquely close due to
geography and a shared history. However, this paper considers the proposition:
are New Zealand and Australia moving closer together or drifting apart?
The paper argues that, in a globalising world, it makes sense for the
two countries to work closely together and combine their efforts to promote
our shared economic, defence and regional interests. Specifically, it
maintains that economic integration will be needed to offset the risks
that globalisation poses for us both, and that both countries are better
off operating as a single economic entity, with CER providing a stronger
platform for our economic relations with the wider region. It also argues
that the prospect of continued disturbances in the region means that the
cooperation of our two Defence Forces will be essential.

The Honourable Phil Goff is the New
Zealand Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade and Minister of Justice.
First elected to Parliament in 1981, Mr Goff held several Ministerial
posts in the fourth Labour Government, including Housing, Employment and
Education. He is a graduate of Auckland and Oxford Universities. This
paper is an adaptation of an address given to the Otago Foreign Policy
School at the University of Otago, in Dunedin, New Zealand, on 29 June
2001.